Resurgent Rush Fortifies Left Side with Greer

After nearly a month pursing a trade for Zack Greer, the
National Lacrosse League's Edmonton Rush landed the former
first-round draft pick from the Minnesota Swarm in exchange for a
first-round draft pick in the 2013 NLL entry draft.

The deal was announced on the NLL's weekly coaches conference
call Wednesday. Edmonton coach and general manager Derek Keenan
said the Rush were looking to strengthen their left side, and he
thinks Greer will perform up to a level expected when Greer was
drafted No. 3 overall by the Swarm in the 2009 draft.

Minnesota coach Mike Lines said he was sad to see Greer go, but
thinks a change of scenery will benefit him. The trade also unites
Greer with his older brother, Bill, an Edmonton defenseman who
arrived with the Rush in the offseason via the dispersal draft of
the Orlando Titans.

On Twitter Wednesday afternoon, Zack Greer wrote: "True Story, I
have been traded to the Edmonton Rush. Going to miss the boys in MN
but jacked up to play with my bro and good group in EDM."

"We not only looked at the present, but the future," Keenan
said. "He's a young player. He's scored at every level that he's
played at. He hasn't performed quite to what the expectations were
for him coming into the National Lacrosse League, but typically
when a guy is a player of his caliber, eventually those type of
skills come out to the forefront again if he's in the right
environment, which we think we'll have for him in Edmonton."

Greer played in four games this season for the Swarm after being
hampered by an upper body injury. He had five goals and five
assists. The 25-year-old-played in 13 games last season, totaling
23 points.

Swarm general manager Marty O'Neill said in a press release
that, "There was less available playing time at Zack's position due
to the recent acquisition of Jamie Shewchuk."

Minnesota acquired Shewchuk, a five-year NLL veteran, from
Colorado in exchange for a fourth round pick in the 2012 entry
draft Feb. 9. Shewchuk has eight points in three games with the
Swarm.

"We've put Zack in a place where he is going to get the best
chance to play. He was a good teammate in Minnesota and well liked
amongst his peers," O'Neill said. "We wish him the best of luck in
Edmonton."

Said Lines: "Well, it's sad to see Zack go. He did a lot for our
organization over the last year and a half. A fresh start for him
is not going to hurt. He's going to be playing with his brother,
and Edmonton was looking to bolster up their left side a little
bit, so it should be a really good fit for him."

Greer, a Whitby, Ontario native, led Bryant University in
scoring with 68 points in 2009 and finished his collegiate field
career as the NCAA's all-time leading point and goal scorer in
Division I history, with 353 points and 248 goals.

"He's a skill guy with good size, very athletic kid," Keenan
said. "I've watched him play pretty much his whole life out here in
Whitby. He's a kid that we've had our eye on for a while, and we
feel he's going to help our left side that's been a little
inconsistent. Andy Secore's been injured, and we sort of had
up-and-down performances from other guys. We think Zack is going to
come in and really help that side. He's definitely going to be
given a full opportunity to do so."

Keenan said Bill Greer did not play an active role in the
trade.

"I've talked to Minnesota for about a month and we finally came
to terms [Tuesday]," Keenan said. "Billy didn't have anything to do
with it, [but] I know they're both real happy to be playing with
one another."

Edmonton is 2-7 and in fourth place in the NLL's West Division.
Minnesota is 4-4 and in second place in the West.

In other Swarm news, the team said it has activated captain and
defenseman Ryan Cousins, who was sidelined the first half of the
season due to his full-time job as a Toronto firefighter. Cousins
has been the Minnesota's only captain since the team's
inception.